The British Advertising Standards Authority has banned images used to promote products from the company's Lancome and Maybelline brands for breached the advertising standards code for misleading and exaggeration.

Excessive retouching seems to be the norm these days in cosmetics ads. Another ad featuring natural Beauty Christy Turlington was also banned for too much photoshop. Member of Parliament Jo Swinson has been lobbying against digitally altered images and she raised the red flag on the two L'Oreal advertisements she claimed were "not representative of the results the products could achieve."

In Roberts' foundation ad, the text claims it is the "1st foundation that recreates the aura of perfect skin." MP Jo Swinson felt the real magic was done digitally. L'Oreal admitted they retouched the photos, but stood true to their claim that the products could potentially yield these results. The French company said Teint Miracle took 10 years to develop and that their research proved it makes skin "more radiant and luminous." According to the ASA Adjudication, L'Oreal insisted Julia Roberts' "naturally healthy and glowing skin" was the perfect palette to show the effects of their product, and that acclaimed photographer Mario Testino used lighting that reduced imperfections. The ASA requested a before shot to illustrate just how much the ad was digitally manipulated, but unfortunately Roberts' contract stipulates that no un-airbrushed shots can be released.

"Advertisers must be able to provide appropriate material to us to demonstrate what retouching they've done in the event we question them, and they mustn't mislead," Guy Parker, Advertising Standards Authority chief executive, told BBC News. "In this event, L'Oreal didn't provide us with that evidence so we were left with no choice but to uphold the complaint.".